Promise
by kbeto
Summary: "Promise [ˈprɒmɪs] noun. An undertaking or assurance given by one person to another agreeing or guaranteeing to do or give something, or not to do or give something, in the future." Danny struggles with the prospect of keeping a promise made many years ago. Could it be that promises are all made to be broken? Flones, sequel to 'Silence', rated T to play safe. Table #1, entry #6.


_Disclaimer: I'm fairly content with this sequel, but that doesn't give me any ownership rights._

_A/N: For those who like sequences, may you enjoy this one. :) _

_I never really asked before, but is it okay when I use other languages' elements without giving a translation? It never worried me because I always use simple words or those that you can deduce their meaning from the context._

_To all the people who wanted to see a sequel, (namely __**lozzigurl**__, __**tfssmile**__, _**Galaxydefender49**_ and __**Marvin**__**Fletcher**__) I'm not being held responsible for anything! *runs away*_

_**Marvin Fletcher** BWAhaha! Worry not, dear! You have no idea the kind of things that come up in those researches I do for my stories. And yeah, that sounded like some furry related, indeed. It's a surprise Dougie hadn't suggested that Tom had a fetish or something!_

_**Anonymous** So true! You can even see me getting 'pervier' with every story! Bad Dougie! BWAhaha!_

_OMG I really like Dougie wearing a mermaid costume? The only fic about them dressing up I can think of is 'The one with maid outfit'. I love that one! *pterodactyl screech* I really didn't get the Marina & the Diamonds reference, but it's like 12AM, I can't say that my brain is still working properly (and I'm also very slow, so...)! Sorry! :(_

_Thank you! This time I can say that I liked 'Lost'. There was something missing in the previous version! :P I do believe nan Fletcher is like Dougie disguised as a elderly woman, they are so alike (and seem to get along fine). I have a really good time writing her! :D I don't know if our Dougs succeeded on seducing Harry, but I wouldn't doubt his skills either! ;)_

Promise

Danny checked himself in the mirror for the 27th time in a span of just five minutes, and Dougie was more than sure his friend had developed some kind of OCD, such was his new found obsession with the position of his curls over his forehead, and how he would repeatedly times wipe them around, or curl them even further with his finger.

"Dan, I know it's a big occasion and everything, but are you even sure he's coming?"

"We already talked about this, Dougie," Danny's reflection glared at Dougie propped on his elbows, sprawled in bed. "He _is_ coming, he couldn't possibly forget."

As much as Dougie also wanted to believe in that thought, they lost contact with the Fletchers just after five years the family left the country. The number they gave Mrs. Jones was already being used by some other guy, and since they didn't seem to call any more, nobody had known a thing about the whereabouts of any Fletcher in ten years.

"Don't give me the death glare, mate. You know how much I want to see Tom again." Dougie got up from bed and walked over to where Danny stood, helping the brunet with his tie. "I just don't want you to get hurt, fifteen years is an awful long time."

"Ya should be happy for me, I'm finally going to meet the person I love!" A smile found its way rather quickly into Danny's face. He couldn't help but beam at the prospect of seeing Tom again, being able to hug him, tell him how much he missed him, and more importantly: that he loved him.

"Yeah, happy that you're finally getting some, because I don't know how you could last for so long without getting laid," Dougie smirked.

"Sod off, Poynter," Danny pushed a hysterical Dougie away, both of them with their faces flustered (albeit for different reasons), reclaiming the task of tying his tie to himself. "Way to kill the romance. No wonder you're still single, Mr. One-night-stand!"

Dougie gasped, looking at Danny with a shocked expression. "No, you didn't–"

The two engaged in body combat, rolling around the floor, laughing and screaming and trying to make the other surrender with heavy tickling. Their wrestling match didn't last long, though, as they lay on the floor side by side, staring at each other.

"What I mean is that you should prepare yourself for the worst possibility. Don't think for a minute that I wouldn't want true happiness for my best mate in the entire world," Dougie admitted, bopping Danny's nose, and pulling him into a hug.

"Thanks, Dougs," Danny reciprocated the hug. "Wait what is that in your pocke– Get off me, you wanker!" Danny started laughing nervously, trying to push his way free of Dougie's embrace.

"You know that I always get excited about wrestling matches!" Dougie smirked, trying to squeeze himself against Danny as much as possible. "Aww, come here, Dan! I'll make us both feel good!"

"You're worse than a rabbit! Get away from me, ya pervert!" They laughed about their own stupid antics.

~#~

"But how are you going to recognise him, Dan? I mean, we changed quite a bit ourselves, the same must have happened to Tom," Dougie cast a quick glance at Danny, keeping his attention to the traffic.

"I have and old photo of him from the last time he wrote me," Danny fished a picture of a blond boy with shy smile and brown eyes from his pocket and showed it to Dougie. "He shouldn't have changed much after this, just a bit taller, I reckon."

"Well, good luck, call me if anything happens."

Danny climbed out Dougie's car, walking to a spot in front of the Big Ben, flowers in one hand, and dangling with his promise ring on a necklace with his other one. He checked for his looks one last time, making sure there wasn't anything stuck in his teeth, and breathed deeply. Now, all he had to do was wait for the love of his life to appear and make everything better.

"Calm down, Jones. You're just going to meet a friend from your past, no need to get all nervous, that's not who you are!" he moved his shoulder in outward circles, kicking out to get some relief from the tension building inside his muscles. "No cold feet, you can do it!" he cheered himself.

And so started what would be a long wait for Danny. He had no idea of when Tom would arrive, so he decided to just wait from the same time they said goodbye 15 years ago till evening, even if that meant enduring rain or snow. _"I'll help you to not starve,"_ Dougie had told him, saying he would bring Danny some lunch, so he wouldn't have to leave the meeting place for too long, in case Tom decided to show up when he wasn't there.

Many hours passed and no sign of Tom, or anyone who resembled a grown-up Tom. Evening was almost over them, and Danny's heart's clenched with every passing minute, as the sky got gradually dark, welcoming the night. Could Dougie be right in his assumption? Tom no longer remembered him, or even worse, simply didn't want to remember Danny? What if he's married with children, living in some random country and lost his promise ring? What if he's... not even alive, any more?

"Maybe he doesn't want to see me?" Danny's mood plummeted, getting worse as the rain started to drip on his face; it was hard to tell if those were tears or raindrops, not even himself being able to tell the difference.

~#~

"Oh, Dan! Maybe something happened?" Dougie's heart also got heavy with the news Danny told him on the phone. "Wait for me, I'm coming to pick you up. Try to stay dry, till then."

Dougie had only ended the call, when someone appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the street, almost getting ran over by his car. Hopefully, his brakes didn't fail him and he avoided colliding with the crazy guy stuck inside a broken umbrella.

"Do you want to die, you moron? What's the big idea, crossing the street without even looking?" Dougie yelled, slamming the door of his car shut. The initial sense of relief from avoiding a tragedy was gone, and now he was filled with nothing but anger, because he almost killed someone because of their own stupidity. "What? Are you deaf?"

"_Je suis désolé,"_ a voice from under the umbrella spoke. "I mean, I'm terribly sorry. This bloody thing almost bit my head off, and I'm still a bit lost after not coming here for so long," the tanned man spoke more clearly, freeing himself from the man-eater object and smiling at Dougie with apologetic brown eyes.

Dougie clamped a hand over his own mouth, when he finally recognised the single dimpled smile. The voice was different, so was the hair and the tone of the skin, but he would be able to tell whom that shy smile and round chin with a spot belonged to.

"Tom? It's me Dougie!" his lips trembled, eyes welling up rather quickly.

"Dougie? _Oh mon Dieu! _Dougie!" Tom tossed the wreckage he once called an umbrella aside, running to envelope his old friend into a tight hug, both crying from happiness in each other's arms. "Aren't you a _beau garçon_?"

"I hope that's a compliment, you fraud of a Frenchman!" Both laughed under the rainy skies of London for a good minute, before realising they needed to get shelter and Dougie needed some place to park his car.

Once inside the car, Dougie drove them to a café nearby, where they could eat something, as Tom's stomach had manifested its emptiness loudly, short after they got into the vehicle. There they could get themselves some food and some warmth.

"Why did you just disappear on us? We haven't heard from you in years!" Dougie said, putting down giving Tom some hot latte, and opposed to his friend. "I was starting to think you were dead!"

"Sorry, we lost most of our things in a _feu_. It burned our old house down to ashes," Tom sipped from his drink, letting the warm liquid nuzzle his throat on the way down. "I lost all of Dan letters and internet wasn't as popular as it is today."

"God! Dan! He was waiting for you in front of Benny since morning, he thinks you're not coming!"

"How is he?" Tom averted his eyes, blushing slightly. "I miss talking to him."

"You still like him! That's so cute!" Dougie cooed, taking wicked pleasure in teasing his childhood friend. "Wait till he hears about this!"

"_Se taire,_ Dougie! I'm just– _Excusez-moi_," Tom fished around in his pocket to answer his phone.

From his seat Dougie could hear that he was talking to a 'Harry', although not able to understand much of their conversation, as they talked in French. As soon as Tom was back, Dougie inquired about the mysterious Harry on the other end of the call.

"Harry _est mon ami_," Tom smiled. "He'll arrive tomorrow, you'll get to know him."

"Cool! Erm, I have to go look for a loo, Tommy. I'll be right back," Dougie excused himself and went to lock himself inside the small cubicle and call Danny. He was almost giving up on it, when Danny's groggy voice replied. He probably went home to have some sleep, after Dougie had forgotten him in the rain.

"_Yeah?"_

"I found him. I repeat, I found him!"

"_What you're talking about, Dougster? And why are you calling only now, you twat?"_

"I found Tom, he's here with me," he clarified. Danny's smile "But there's something you should know... he has a hot, French boyfriend! I haven't seen the guy, but he's French, so I'm just assuming the first part."

Danny went silent. Dougie was sure he was still on the phone because the call hadn't ended, as the timer indicating the length of it was still ticking. He called out for Danny a few more times, till he finally got a reply.

"_Tell him you don't know where I am and don't bring him here,"_ was the only instruction given to Dougie, before the line went mute.

Dougie walked back to his and Tom's table, feeling slightly uneasy. It wasn't the best way to break the news to Danny, but he knew it had to be done sooner or later, and his mate have already awaited too long, holding onto a love that wasn't there any more. Perhaps a schoolboy crush, and that was all.

"So, Tommy, do you and this Harry of yours have any children?"

"I plan on having my own rabid little bunnies, just not now," Tom chuckled, using the familiar term from their childhood, memories of Ms. E washing over them. "As for Harry, he's sort of avoiding relationships for the time being."

"Wait, your boyfriend is _avoiding_ relationships? How does that work? Is that a French thing?" Dougie seemed puzzled by Tom's words. Avoiding a relationship whilst being in one? Could that even work?

"Boyfriend? Harry's my friend and he's as much French as myself or you," Tom frowned. "Did you think–"

"Uh, yeah?" Dougie gave out a nervous laugh. "And now Dan is _sorta_ thinking the same, too."

~#~

The new information was one hard to digest. Danny just sat there in his bed in this daze where his brain is trying to tell him what he should feel, since Tom in fact remembered their promise, but at the same time totally disregarded said promise in some aspects. Didn't Tom liked him, or all those letters about getting married when they were older were just silly, innocent thoughts from their childhood? Either way, he was glad that Tom was still alive and kept memories of him.

"I feel like I'm trapped inside those films Sis watches," he mumbled, letting his body sinks in the mattress, face first into his pillow. "Although I'm missing the happy ending."

His body felt drained of energy all of sudden, thus he decided it would be better to just go take a shower to re-energise himself and try and move on with his life – he spent 10 years without hearing from Tom, he could do it for another more 10. His plan would've been perfect, if the water hitting his face hadn't triggered the tears that he knew were mingled with the flow cascading down his skin.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he continually banged his head against the cold tiles, in a futile attempt of numbing the pain in his heart with one of another kind.

Thirty or forty minutes later, a drenched Danny left the bathroom and marched back to his room, leaving a trail of small puddles behind, having only a towel wrapped loosely around his hips, just a bit below the V lines of his obliques. Mrs. Jones will hunt for his head when she sees it, but right now Danny couldn't care less about anything, even the fury of his mum.

He closed the door, throwing his towel away, ready to fetch one of his boxers from the topmost drawer of his chest of drawers, when his eyes fell on the figure of a boy, looking at the photographs spread over the furniture.

"Oi! Wha' ya think ya doing?" Danny bellowed, grabbing an old pogo stick near the bedside table as his weapon of choice.

The intruder, startled by the sudden screaming, let the frame go from his hands and ended with broken glass and a picture of two boys sleeping over a book at his feet, before turning to face Danny with eyes wide in surprise. His eyes reminded Danny of melted chocolate that made cakes so delicious and tempting, and for a moment they just stared at him, their owner not making a single movement, except for those originated from his breathing.

The blond then started gesturing with his hands in a very expressive way, and Danny realised a bit too late that the boy was signing.

"_Don't scare me like that, you idiot. Do you want to kill me?"_ he stopped only to glare at Danny. _"And why are you naked?"_

That was when Danny realised that he was no longer clad in anything, his private parts exposed to everyone to see. He then lowered the pogo, trying to cover himself with it and blushing madly in the process, much for his visitor's amusement.

"_Take this,"_ black boxers were flung at his freckled face, which he caught and swiftly slipped into.

"Tom, why are you here?" Danny's voice finally found its way out of his mouth. He took two long strides and was right in front of Tom, debating whether or not to go with his feelings and hug his mate, or just watch with caution and avoid being hurt any further.

"I'm here for you," Tom spoke, instead of signing, lifting his left hand between them. A ring twin to the one hanging from Danny's necklace shone around his finger, and he just smiled at Danny.

"To tell me I was an twat for waiting for you?"

"To tell you _je t'aime,_" Tom stopped Danny from biting his lips any further, closing the gap between them with a soft kiss.

At first, Danny didn't kiss back, but his hands started acting of their own accord, securing Tom by his waist, whilst the blond skilfully worked his tongue to intrude Danny's mouth, savouring every single bit of him. They kissed till their lungs no longer held air, panting with foreheads joined, and laughing for no reason at all.

"And your boyfriend?"

"I wonder why everyone's assuming Harry to be my boyfriend," Tom rolled his eyes. "Harry's just a friend. He's the one who encouraged me to come here, and one of your biggest fans, since you helped me recover my speech."

"Are we good?" All the weight on Danny's shoulders got lifted by Tom's words.

"_Oui_, unless you're always this happy around everyone," Tom nodded towards the strain in his friend's boxers, chuckling a bit. "I better be going, now. Meet me tomorrow, same place, 10AM."

And with a last peck, Tom left, groping Danny's bum on his way out and saying _"I liked what I saw"_, leaving the blue-eyed boy even more embarrassed.

~#~

Danny arrived at the rendezvous 10 minutes earlier, his nerves torturing him more than they had the day before. He barely had any sleep, too much nervous to let his brain shut down and let his body rest. This time, he knew for sure that Tom was coming, and every time he relived their first kiss, his stomach would make these weird flips, as if filled with moths flying amok.

"_You can do this, Jones! Stay cool!"_ he adjusted his tie one final time, also checking his watch. He wore the same outfit he originally planed on, a fine mix between formality (white tie, navy blue dress shirt) and casualness (jeans, converse, and rolled up sleeves), despite risking being mistaken by some loony standing guard on the clock; Tom should arrive at any second, anyway.

"_Bonjour,_" a voice called from behind, prompting Danny to spin and find its source. He found Tom dressed in clothes vaguely similar to his – wearing a shirt, a waistcoat, and jeans – accompanied by a short haired brunet of shimmering blue eyes. "Dan, this is Harry. Harry, this is Dan."

"Heard lots about you," the Harry guy grinned, shaking hands with Danny. "Be grateful that I dragged this lazy bum here," he chuckled, pointing at Tom with his thumb.

"Thanks?"

Harry's stay was a really short one, as he didn't want to the third wheel on the boys' first date. He excused himself and went to entertain himself in the activities common to any people visiting London, making sure to clear the whole misunderstand before leaving. Danny also gave him Dougie's number, in case he wanted someone to keep him company and 'a free tour around'.

Once they were alone, Danny gave Tom the rose he had in his hand, slipping it into the blond's pocket – he decided against a bouquet after having trouble taking the whole thing home, it was just impractical – and smiling with all his being; he was so happy, he wanted to scream at top of his lungs.

Their date was just a string of simple activities they used as excuse to catch up on the many years they didn't see each other, no details spared. Tom filled Danny on how was the process of recovering his speech and the hardships that came with it, whilst Danny filled Tom in his passion for music and how he got over his short temper. And that was what they did, skipping from programme to programme, watching films, having lunch on a fine restaurant and serenading each other in a guitar store.

"This has been a _fantastique_ day, Dan. Thank you."

Danny immediately jumped in front of Tom and started signing. _"It's always a fantastic day with you."_

"_I can think of something that can make it even better,"_ Tom signed, giving Danny a sultry look and pointing in the direction of his hotel.

~#~

"Whoa! Just... whoa!" Danny panted.

His vision was still a bit clouded from the climax, and his limbs were all limp, but he had regained enough of his breath to be able to speak again. From his peripheral vision, he could see Tom roll to hover above him, sporting a huge smirk.

"We have to compensate for the lost time, _non_?"

"You mean this– we're really–" Tom silenced Danny with his finger, reaching out for a small box resting on the bedside table, intentionally letting his full weight crash on the naked body below him, creating a brief friction between them. "I don't remember you being such a tease," Danny grunted, relishing on the feeling of skin on skin.

"Because I wasn't an oversexualised kid and that would be _étrange_?" Tom scoffed. "But that's besides the point, I wanted to show these–" the text alert for Danny's phone went off.

_He's not French but he's sure HOT. Thanks for sending me the Greek god. ;)_

"Harry doesn't go bedding people around, Dougs' in for some rejection," Tom sighed at the text showed to him, proceeding from where Dougie interrupted him.

Inside the box he had in his hands there was a pair of rings, strikingly similar to the ones with them, the difference being 'forever' replacing the date inside the original rings.

"This is for a new promise, a promise that we won't be apart ever again," Tom straddled Danny's naked hips, putting one ring on around a large freckled finger, kissing it. Danny mimicked him and they had another session of gazing at each other without uttering a single word.

"_I love you,"_ both signed, meeting halfway into a deep kiss, pouring their dreams and hopes on each other.

As long as their convictions were as strong as the promise they made as kids, nothing could keep them from achieving happiness together. And that was another **promise **made.

~Fin~


End file.
